Porto Natales – Punto Montt 1,770 kms
Total Distance So Far: 7,085 kms (5,315 kms by Land, 1,770 kms by Sea)
Internet has revved up in Talca!
The trip through the southern island and channels that make up the Chilean Fjords was always going to be a highlight of the trip. Luckily it did not disappoint. I thought it easiest to break it down into the three parts of it, the land and seascape, the boat and facilities and lastly the crowd on-board.
The Boat.
The Navimag ship - the S.S. Evangelista, was a tough old thing, and being 20-years old it was no spring-chicken. It was double-hulled, and re-inforced incase it ever had a tussle with an iceburg, which we were told is a common occurrence. We did see a lot of floating ice and some black ice which is the hard ice to spot. This ice is full of dirt and is literally coloured black or dark grey. When the iceburgs are big they show on radar, but when they melt down to the size of a 40’ container they do not show as they are nearly completely submerged at that point.
The ship had three guides on board who spoke a multitude of languages. All three, Christophe, Marcello and Christian were helpful chaps with a good sense of humour. They all had a bunch of stories and incidents that came pouring out after a couple of drinks. They also gave very interesting on-board lectures of the area, terrain, and wildlife. After we were shown into our cabins/dorms, all 120 passengers on board (a full ship) were given a comprehensive guide to the journey, what we’d see, when we’d expect to pass things, a weather conditions briefing, including a system of when we could and could not go out on deck, a safety briefing and finally a tour of the ship. The tour was very short as the areas of the boat for passenger use really consisted of a dining room, various look-out decks and a bar – which we were told is open 24 hours!
There was a stack of people who were turned away at Porto Natales who did not book in advance (as instructed to do in all the guide books), as Navimag would not allow anyone on board without a berth. There must have been 20+ people turned away in the space of the 20 minutes whilst were doing our pre-trip registration. The next boat was a week away. So the only options to get to Porto Montt as there are no roads this far south in Chile are 1) To travel some 2,500 kms via various buses through Argentina, or 2) Take a flight to Santiago (1 flight was available the next day), and then take a connection back down to Porto Montt. As you would expect some took the bad news more calmly than others. It was amazing to see how some people thought big long sob stories, shouting, banging on the desk and jumping up and down would get them on the boat. I have to say I was almost in that crowd as I went on a waiting list for a couple of weeks a month ago before Navimag confirmed an available cabin. 60 of the 120 berths on board were in 5 open dorms each sleeping 12 persons, which is what they initially offered me. For some reasons the cabins go first!! I have to say that would have been a very last option, but luckily they came through with a cabin. Lesson there about early bird and worm!
The boat had 1000kms of channels of the Chilean Fjords to cover, and 770 kms of open sea or very wide channels. It was very picturesque throughout the journey even though we had drizzly and windy weather for a good part of the journey. Some of the channels were just 40 or 50 meters wide which meant the boat crawled through. There were mountain ranges and glaciers continually. In the open ocean part crossing the Golf de Penas, which clearly was refered to as the ‘Golf de Penis’ the waves were 4-5 meters and a lot of the passengers suffered bouts of being seasick. The was ice and small iceburgs near where the glaciers touched the sea. Some black iceburgs were pointed out too which I got a few shots off when it rose above the surface.
Many people said they saw dophins, sea lions, seals etc but I have to say I missed it all. Even Lidy saw dolphins and some elephant seals. I saw the scenery, which was fantastic, and a lots of birds. The ship posted someone on whale watch as they said it was very likely to sea right whales or blue whales but nothing was spotted.
We just one town in the 4 days. A small town of Puerto Eden after about 800 kms. The 130 people of this fishing village were the only people who lived in a very inhospitable area bigger than Holland. This boat was the only link for supplies, and transport in and out. We had planned to go ashore in small boats but the captain decided the weather was too bad so scraped the idea.
The crowd on board was an interesting mix of travelers. There were hikers, climbers, backpackers touring by bus/truck, locals from Puerto Natales and even a few adventure bikers. There were also many different nationalities. I met Aussies, French, German, Swedes, Danish, Argentinians, Americans, Canadians, British and Chilean.
We shared a table with Monika and Sune from Sweden who were on a 6 week hiking/touring trip of Chile and Argentina, and Robs and Angi from Germany who were on a 6-month tour of the southern hemisphere with 2 months in Chile/Argentina, 2 in New Zealand and 2 in Australia/Tasmania. I have to say meal times were always a hoot. We had such a laugh. As we missed the whales, we decided to solve all of the world’s problems – alcohol, prostitution, drugs, poverty, G. Bush legacy, global warming etc - all over a glass of red or white instead. No subject was too big to solve in 5 minutes. Sune and Roger Bamber would have got on like a house on fire.
The boat had a bit of a party atmosphere. We were given wine in our cabins (a very good Chilean number), wine with our meal, and with a 24 hour bar on board things tending to be jovial! Check out a couple of the video postings. It says it all I think! And looking back now I am not surprised I missed any passing blue whales…….
Anyone fancy a hiking/touring trip in this neck of the woods the Chilean Fjord boat trip would be a good addition. I’m just not sure the liver could cope with it again!!
Lidy got tired of hanging about as the boat took a good 8 hours to load. She thought she would organise the baggage loading in the old US pick-up to speed things up a bit. The baggage handlers thought it was highly amusing - but sadly things took as long as they took!
Getting the last few trucks on board.
A submerged black iceburg. About the size of a 40' container they are obviously pretty difficult to spot and are the biggest danger the boat faces in the channels.
Thomas wins the dancing competition. Not bad for a guy who is 6' 10".
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